Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“How are the patient’s physical signs?” Ling Ran suddenly raised his head and looked at the display screen halfway through the surgery.
He asked because he realized that his mission completion status was dropping.
Once he had rebuilt one-third of the second vascular channel, Ling Ran noticed that the mission completion status dropped from 75% to 74%, then to 73%, 72%, and 71% …
Ling Ran thought of many reasons that could contribute to this in a span of just a few minutes, but it was not easy to prove that they were correct.
The anesthetist sat up straight in front of the display screen. Initially, he was so bored that he almost fell asleep. He was awakened all of a sudden, and he cast a terrified glance at the display screen. Then, he quickly stood up and said, “Everything’s normal.”
After the anesthetist said those words, his heartbeat slowly returned to normal. Covered in cold sweat, he felt resigned.
In normal surgery, it was normal for the chief surgeon to ask for the anesthetist’s opinion. But clearly, Ling Ran was not a normal chief surgeon. In previous surgeries, Ling Ran always judged the situation based on what he saw from the display screen.
This time, the anesthetist felt as if he had been shocked awake when Ling Ran suddenly asked him about the physical signs, and the shock was amplified since Academician Zhu Tongyi was beside him.
Luckily, the data showed on the display screen was normal, so the anesthetist calmed down. He stared at Ling Ran with his hand over his chest, as though Ling Ran had wronged him. Then, he used his hand to touch Liu Weichen’s head and whispered, “Dalang is all right. He’s fine.”
Ling Ran frowned and stopped the surgery. He went up to the monitor and observed the situation.
The anesthetist felt challenged, so he carefully checked the monitor again. He then said, “The patient’s physical signs are normal.”
Ling Ran hummed as an answer before he nodded slowly. “They’re normal indeed.”
“Ling Ran, what’s the matter?” Zhu Tongyi also walked up to them. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking slightly tired.
“Things don’t feel quite right,” said Ling Ran.
Zhu Tongyi hesitated for a few seconds. He wanted to ask, “Do you want to end the surgery earlier?” However, when he thought about the fact that the surgery was being shown to those in the demonstration room, he did not ask. At that time, he was slightly unhappy with how the surgery in the operating theater was being broadcasted in the demonstration room.
Problems always occurred in operating theaters, regardless of whether the surgery was unrecorded or recorded. And conceited surgeons would often make wrong judgments when they were observed by others.
Ji Tianlu settled the work on his hands. Still seated, he turned his head and asked, “What now?”
He did not ask Ling Ran if they should end the surgery right then as well, but his stance was clear from his attitude.
Ling Ran fell into deep thought.
Making correct judgments under pressure was the job of a surgeon.
Ling Ran could stop the surgery at that point to maintain a higher recovery level of the Achilles tendon. An Achilles tendon with 70% functionality would not allow Liu Weichen to perform high-intensity training, but it would be good enough for his daily needs.
Ling Ran could also change the plan. Plans B and C, which were designed by Zhu Tongyi, had different focuses.
“We’ll continue.” Ling Ran turned around and returned to the chief surgeon’s position to continue rebuilding the vascular network.
The Perfect Level Achilles Tendon Repair Technique, Perfect Level Finger Replantation, and hundreds of experiences in finger replantation kept reminding Ling Ran that blood supply was the most important thing he had to take care of.
Ling Ran could only continue based on theoretical knowledge since he did not have enough information right then.
The patient did not want a conservative surgical plan. Otherwise, he would not have waited so long to receive surgery. Changing the surgical plan would just imply that Ling Ran panicked when the patient’s condition took a turn for the worse. There was no evidence to show that Plans B and C would bring better results.
Ling Ran performed blood vessel anastomosis while he received notifications showing that his mission completion status was reducing.
At around the fortieth minute, his mission completion status dropped to 55%.
The number meant that Liu Weichen could only restore his Achilles tendon functionality to 55%. Forget participating in high-intensity training and competitions, he would even have trouble in his daily life. He even had to be careful when he ran or jumped.
To the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center, the result produced by that number was absolutely below their standards.
Ling Ran craned his neck and exercised it for a while. He said, “Let’s check again.”
Ji Tianlu watched Ling Ran in puzzlement, but he still followed Ling Ran’s instructions and started to check again.
After ten minutes, Ji Tianlu answered, “Should be fine.”
Ling Ran nodded and proceeded to suture the blood vessels again.
The information from the system could only be used as a reference. In a situation where the system could not identify the problem, he could only trust his intraoperative judgment.
A delay of one to two hours of surgery time should not affect the level of completion too much. The only possible setback could be that the alternate vascular channel he was building imposed negative effects on the patient.
However, that did not make any sense. Even without reconstructive surgery, the human body would still complete the rebuilding of blood vessels after a few months during the postoperative period. In other words, revascularization was needed by the human body.
If Ling Ran wanted an answer, then he was willing to think that an incomplete alternate vascular channel might impose a negative effect on the patient.
With such a conclusion in mind, Ling Ran continued the microsurgery under pressure.
His stress was subconsciously passed on to Lu Wenbin, then to Ji Tianlu, and finally to Zhu Tongyi.
They all acknowledged Ling Ran. Since Ling Ran took the matter seriously, they knew that there were some changes to the situation. Although no change could be observed from the monitors and the patient’s physical appearance, they knew that certain bad changes could not be detected by the monitors and devices immediately.
Lu Wenbin continued to operate the retractor quietly, and Ji Tianlu also lost his interest in chatting. Zhu Tongyi even crossed his arms over his chest, and no one knew what thoughts ran in his mind.
Alas, Ling Ran was still affected by the mission completion status in the system. He increased his suturing speed silently.
All the surgeons in the demonstration room could not feel the tension in the operation theater, but they saw the changes in the surgery.
Ling Ran’s suturing speed was already fast from the beginning, and his stability, as well as his efficiency in suturing, were very high.
To the crowd, those were undoubtedly the strengths that made Ling Ran stand out and be the chief surgeon.
No one thought that Ling Ran could still do it much faster and with an even steadier hand.
“That’s kind of scary.”
“This speed is already insane for suturing the skin, and it’s too much for blood vessels.”
“Isn’t he scared of ruining the blood vessels?”
“Well, he has made enough allowances.”
“Are you able to reach even half his standard if I give you so much allowance for mistakes? Let’s not talk about his speed first. If we do, I’d just be bullying you…”
The young resident doctors no longer had the confidence to compare themselves with Ling Ran. Even the experienced attending physicians only looked at each other without a word.
Being able to suture quickly was never the standard to measure the capability of a surgeon. But the information gathered when a surgeon sutured quickly was not just speed.
There was also accurate judgment, the surgeon’s confidence in the surgery, his familiarity with the skill, and his mastery of the skill, among others.
A doctor who could perform all that was someone a normal attending physician would never be able to catch up to no matter how fast he tried to catch up.
“The vascular channel is completed.”
Ling Ran’s voice in the video was not loud, but his long exhale could be heard.
The medical staff in the demonstration room immediately fell quiet.
This time, Ling Ran did not say anything. He did the check-up on his own, and he released the artery directly.
Never-ending streams of blood swiftly surged into the perforating arteries which were just sutured. Then, the blood spread to the vascular networks around it.
In Ling Ran’s vision, the mission completion status for Rise Into Prominence increased slowly from 45%…
55%, 65%, 75%, 85%…
When that value appeared, it looked as if a huge burden had finally been released from Ling Ran’s shoulders.
Liu Weichen’s Achilles tendon rupture was serious. The part he cut off was already the size of a thumb. For a severely injured Achilles tendon, it could be considered a success if its functionality was restored to 85%.
The 85% there was considered excellent if used to measure the capacity of the joints.
There would still be risks if Liu Weichen performed high-intensity training with his current Achilles tendon. However, it could still work. At least, he could remain in the world of sports.
Most importantly, his mission completion status was still increasing slowly.
“The second vascular channel is a success. We will begin suturing now.” Ling Ran did not hesitate, and he began to perform a layered closure to end the time-consuming surgery.
Ji Tianlu cooperated proactively, and he looked at Ling Ran curiously. It was only after some time that he finally found himself unable to resist, asking, “You don’t seem to be worried now?”
“My gut tells me things are okay now.” Ling Ran did not want to give up his position as the chief surgeon. He even did the skin suturing on his own.
During the dressing, Ling Ran could see that Liu Weichen’s Achilles tendon had recovered up to 90%.
“Academician Zhu, could you come and give us the medical advice.” Ling Ran felt at ease and allowed someone else to take over that part because he was not good at it.
Zhu Tongyi nodded slightly and started to mutter under his breath.
Ji Tianlu glanced at Ling Ran. When he noticed that Ling Ran had become even more relaxed, he asked Ling Ran out of curiosity, “How do you feel now?”
“Like I just gained my reward.” Ling Ran looked at his eighteenth Basic Treasure Chest and felt very emotional.
The female nurses in the demonstration room typed furiously in their small WeChat group. They all typed in an emotional manner.
[Doctor Ling is such an emotional man.]
[An emotional man is the best.]
[Emotional men are good lovers.]
[No way. If an emotional man becomes your husband, he’ll love you even more.]
[He will be the best as a lover.]
[You want to be my husband’s lover? You’re so shameless >:(]
